GP wishes people would stop saying 'it's just the flu'

“It's just the flu" is a phrase Dr Bryan Betty hears regularly in his clinic, and one he wishes people would stop saying. Influenza A is spreading at extraordinary rates, filling GP clinics, after-hours centres and hospital emergency departments, and while this strain may not be producing more severe illness than usual, it is the sheer volume of those being infected that is the problem. "What's unusual about this outbreak is the infectiousness of the outbreak", says Betty, a specialist GP who has been inundated with cases. "It's a variant of influenza called subclade K, and what we know about it is it's highly infectious, so it spreads very easily." It's a crucial distinction, he says, because while the flu itself isn't necessarily more dangerous, when huge numbers of people catch it, even a small percentage developing severe illness creates a significant burden on the health system.